Environmental Activist Gus Speth to Speak at Northwestern

Longtime advocate for environment to talk on “America the Possible”

October 26, 2012
| By Wendy Leopold

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Longtime environmental activist James Gustave Speth will discuss his vision for the country to transition to an efficient and sustainable economy when he speaks at Northwestern University Thursday, Nov. 8.

A co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council and former dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Speth will speak on “America the Possible” at 12:30 p.m. in the lower level of Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Evanston. His lecture is free and open to the public.

As chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, Speth helped develop President Jimmy Carter’s environmental policies and served as an adviser on natural resources, energy and the environment to President Bill Clinton’s transition team. From 1993 to 1999, Speth administered the United Nations Development Programme, with the mission of reducing poverty, building infrastructure and establishing democracy in the world’s least developed countries.

Speth’s environmental activism has earned him numerous awards and honors including the Resources Defense Award from the National Wildlife Federation, the Swain Award of Honor from the Natural Resources Council of America and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental Law Institute.

A the founder of the World Resources Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental think tank, Speth is a member of the Vermont Law School faculty. He is the author of numerous books on the environment and recipient of honorary degrees from Clark University, the College of the Atlantic and Middlebury College.